Our nation, specifically Korea, was able to rid itself of the dark geopolitical barrier and advance to the world while undergoing the course of liberation from Japanese colonial rule, fratricidal war and confrontation. It was an escape through the United States. From the perspective of history, it was a genuine revolution for the nation. Dr. Kim Kyung-won pointed out in a recent commentary that during the second half of the 20th century, our economy made a leap from the lowest ranks to among the highest in the world and democracy was achieved.

Fifty years since then, we are dumfounded today to find a reaction of history. We find a stream of arch-conservatism that attempts to snatch us away from America and the world and roll us back to the fence of China and Japan. We see the folly of attempting to do so in the name of anachronistic nationalism, and the folly, infected by a "infantile disease of justification" of crushing established privileges and forging reform, trying again to push us back into a corner of Northeast Asia.

If we could build an upright nation and rediscover an honorable Asia by going against America and running against globalization like so, it might be a different story. The current ruling force made friendly gestures to Japan and China by advocating "Let's go China" and "Let's hold hands with Japan." But we witness today what has come back to us in return are nothing but cold contempt and disrespectable reception. Our surroundings have been plunging into an atmosphere talking again about subjugation and tribute, making an issue of pro-Japanese activities and shouting about anti-nationalism.

We are becoming an orphan and friendless in our foreign relations. We have sort of turned our back to America, have been slapped on the face by China, ignored by Japan and ridiculed by Russia. It is by no means coincidental that China has come up with distortions of Koguryo at this time. Even if the incumbent administration smiled at Japan offering "no further questioning of the past," Japan is prepared to hit the back of our head at any time. We presume ourselves to be a central force in the six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear programs, but we have long been marginalized. The United States no longer trusts South Korea. Japan professes itself to be a partner of America. China moves within a line matching up with its own national interests. We alone are under the illusion of being a star in some situation; we're already becoming a missing child in Northeast Asia.

For whose sake and to gain what does the nation attempt to return the past half a century, the most dynamic part of our 5,000-year history, and react to the past framework and structure? The entire people should ask this question and ask the nation to answer it. We must clearly inquire into whether this nation is mandated to pause a minute to remedy the mistakes and side-effects committed in the 50-year rush at nearly an excessive speed, or to revert the lives of the Korean nation back to the fence of China and Japan.

Enclosed in Northeast Asia, we have no future. Sandwiched between China and Japan, indulged in a sense of domination and a sense of superiority, our nation cannot survive. No permanent peace can exist with the two countries that incessantly keep an eye on our sovereignty and territories and talk about submission and a tribute. Our future lies in the world. Our strength lies in vibrant liberal democracy and the market economy. Defeatism bound by anti-Americanism and nationalism devoid of objectives are what China, Japan and above all North Korea are looking for. Through the United States or on our own, we must not be enclosed by the fence of China and Japan, but advance to the world.